Fluid delivery system

Abstract: A fluid delivery system including a vial (2) having an opening for containing a dry medicament, a container (1) having an opening for containing a solution, upper and lower, pierceable plugs (12,22) for hermetically sealing the openings of the vial and the container, a capsule (4) having upper and lower ends, and a sliding member (3) slidably disposed in the capsule (4) and having a double-pointed cannula provided with upper and lower needles (33,34). The container (1) is slidably inserted into the capsule (4) from the upper open end of the capsule and the vial (2) can be detachably and fixedly connected to the lower open end of the capsule. When the container (1) is pushed downward, the lower needle (34) of the cannula firstly pierces and is inserted through the plug of the vial (2) so that the cannula communicates with the medicament vial (2) and the upper needle (33) of the cannula pierces the plug of the container (1) so that the vial (2) and the container communicate with one another through the cannula.

Description: This invention relates to a fluid delivery system, and more particularly, to such a fluid delivery system including a vial for containing therein a substance, preferably a powder, such as medicament or drug, and a container for containing therein a fluid, preferably a liquid, such as solution or diluent, to mix the powder with the liquid. In hospitals or other health care facilities, dry medicament, such as powdered medicament or freeze-dried medicament, packaged within a container, such as a vial, has been conventionally used in such a manner that the medicament is mixed with or dissolved in a solution, which is to be provided for fluid therapy. In this case, the vial containing the medicament and another container containing a solution or diluent are connected to each other by means of a double-pointed hollow needle or any other communicating pipe, so that the solution is transferred to the vial containing the medicament to dissolve the latter. However, such an operation requires laborious and troublesome effort and there is a fear of contamination because a hole for connection is formed in the drug container in the open air. To solve such problems, a fluid delivery system having an object of carrying out an operation in a completely sterile condition has been proposed, such as disclosed in JP-A-61/501129 (which corresponds to US-A-4,583,971), JP-A-2 1277 (which corresponds to US-A-4,936,841), and JP-A-3-37067. A fluid storage and delivery system which cannot expect a complete sterile operation, but capable of optionally selecting the combinations between the medicament and solution and attaining a substantially sterile operation, has been proposed, such as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications (JP-A) Nos. 59-209535, 62-137056, and 2-4375, or also Japanese Examined Patent Publications (kokoku) No. 2-26506. In the above-mentioned JP-A 61-501129, a capsule accommodating a medicament container and a flexible container containing a solution are connected to each other by a tube, in such a manner that the medicament container is mutually communicated with the flexible container by communicating means provided in the tube and therefore the medicament is mixed with the solution in a sterile condition. In JP-A 2-1277, capsule accommodating a medicament container is connected by its connecting portion to an opening of a solution container. The connecting portion of the capsule is accompanied with a communicating means providing with a means for controlling the connection order, in such a manner that the medicament container is first pierced by the communicating means and then the solution container is pierced so that the two containers are mutually communicated by the communicating means and therefore the medicament is mixed with the solution in a sterile condition. In JP-A 3-37067, a medicament container, a communicating means and a solution container are arranged in such an order and covered air tightly with a sheet made of synthetic resin. A container support means is provided between the medicament container and the solution container for supporting them over the sheet, so that the medicament container and the solution container are prevented from accessing toward each other until they are mutually communicated in a sterile condition. On the other hand, JP-A 59-209535 discloses a system comprising a first hermetically sealed flexible container having a flexible wall member, a second container having a detachable stopper and which can be fixed through the wall member, and a stopper detaching means having a portion engaged with the stopper. The stopper comes into engaged with the stopper detaching means through the first and second containers and then the stopper is removed from the second container together with a sealing barrier of the first flexible container, so that the two containers are mutually communicated to allow the mixing of the contents in these containers. JP-A 62-137056 and JP-A 2-4375 disclose a system in which the above-mentioned second container is improved. Also, JP-A 2-26506 discloses a further improved system of that disclosed in the above-mentioned JP-A 59-209535. Also, Unexamined Patent Publication (JP-A) No. 4-329956 discloses a sterile mixing apparatus of medicament container in a sealed vial, the apparatus comprising a vial containing therein a medicament, a liquid container, pierceable plug members for hermetically sealing the openings of the vial and the container, respectively, a cannula member having respective edges at both sides. When the vial is pushed down to said container, one of needle tips of the cannula is first pierced and inserted into the medicament vial and then the other needle tip of the cannula is pierced to the fluid container, so that the medicament vial and the fluid container are communicated to each other through the cannula. However, in the former system as disclosed in JP-A 61-501129, since a pair of the medicament container and the solution container are constructed as one unit, an operation in a complete sterile condition can be attained, although the kind of medicament which can be used in this system is restricted. On the other hand, the system disclosed in JP-A 59-209535 is relatively complicate in construction and has some drawbacks. For example, the stopper is undesirably dropped in the first container. It is difficult to obtain an operation in a complete sterile operation, although a substantially sterile operation can be attained. Also, since combination between the medicament container and the solution container can optionally be selected, suitable managing and handling would strongly be required in the medical field. In the system disclosed JP-A 4-329956, on which prior art the preamble of claim 1 is based, a special mechanism or means is necessary for retaining the medicament vial so as not to communicate with liquid container until the vial is intentionally pushed down to toward the container by an operator. The general aim herein is to provide a novel fluid delivery system, which desirably can be easily and surely handled by an operator, such as a doctor, nurse or the like, in a sterile or substantially sterile condition and has a simple construction as compared with the above-mentioned systems known in the prior art. What we propose herein, as set out in claim 1, is a fluid delivery system comprising a vial to contain a substance for dissolving in a liquid, the vial having an opening and a first pierceable plug member providing a hermetically-sealed closure of the vial opening; a container for the liquid, the container having an opening and a second pierceable plug member providing a hermetically-sealed closure of the container opening; a capsule having a first open end at which the vial is releasably connected and a second open end at which the container is inserted, and a slide member disposed slidably in the capsule, having a double-pointed cannula with lower and upper cannula needles axially directed respectively towards the first and second ends of the capsule; control means being provided to control the movement of the slide member; characterised in that the vial has an axially-fixed connection at the first end of the capsule whereas the container is inserted axially slidably at the second end, such that when the container is pushed it slides into the capsule and pushes the slide member along the capsule, the control means being such that when the container and vial are moved towards one another the lower cannula needle pierces the first plug member of the vial to put the cannula in communication with the vial interior before the upper cannula needle pierces the second plug member of the container to put the vial interior in communication with the container interior. It is preferable that said container has a cylindrical wall portion and a bottom, an auxiliary cover member is put onto said container to air tightly cover said cylindrical wall portion and said bottom thereof, and said cover member is frictionally and slidably fit within said sleeve, when said container is inserted into said sleeve. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of a fluid delivery system; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the system similar to that of Fig. 1; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of a further embodiment of the system; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of a sliding member having a double-pointed cannula used in this system; Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of the sliding member shown in Fig. 4; Figure 6 is a top plan view of the sliding member; and Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of a sliding member having another cannula. Referring now to the drawings, wherein Figs. 1, 2, and 3 show several embodiments of a fluid delivery system using the present proposals. The system comprises a fluid container 1, a vial 2, a sliding member 3 having a double-pointed cannula and a cylindrical or pipe-like capsule or sleeve 4. The capsule 4 has a partition wall 41 having a central opening 42 to separate this capsule 4 into two sections 43 and 44, i.e., an upper, slide section 43 having an inner cylindrical bore, within which the sliding member 3 is slidably disposed, and has an upper open end through which the solution container 1 is slidably inserted, and a lower, vial mount section 44 having a bottom open end to which the vial 2 is detachably and fixedly connected. The capsule 4 may be made of any suitable synthetic resin, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester or the like. The solution container 1 is substantially cylindrical and usually made of glass or synthetic resin, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester or the like. The container 1 has an inlet opening 11 through which any suitable liquid, such as solution or diluent for transfusion, is filled and then the opening 11 is hermetically sealed by a pierceable rubber plug 12. The container 1 has a cylindrical wall portion and a bottom and it is preferable that the container 1 is sheathed within an auxiliary sliding cover 5 to air-tightly cover the cylindrical wall portion and the bottom of the container 1. The cover 5 is not always necessary to cover entirely the bottom of the container 1, but may be provided with a central open area 51 as illustrated in Fig. 1, although at least the peripheral area of the bottom must be tightly covered by the auxiliary cover 5. Such an auxiliary sliding cover 5 may be made of any suitable material, such as synthetic resin, for example polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride or the like, so that the auxiliary sliding cover 5 is frictionally, air tightly and slidably fit within the capsule 4 when the container 1 is inserted into the capsule 4. In addition, the capsule 4 is provided with an annular rib 45 on the inner wall thereof. Therefore, an annular edge of the cover 5 first comes into engagement with the annular rib 45 to retain the container 1 within the capsule 4 when the solution container 1 is inserted into the capsule 4. Thus, the solution container 4 is prevented from unintentionally falling down. As described hereinafter in detail, when the container is further pushed down, the cover 5 is allowed to move over the annular rib 45. The vial 2 is substantially cylindrical and usually made of glass, and has an inlet opening 21 through which the vial 2 is filled with any suitable substance, such as a dry medicament or drug, for example powdered medicament or freeze-dried medicament, not shown in the drawings. The inlet opening 21 is hermetically sealed by a pierceable rubber plug 22. The vial 2 is provided with a male thread portion 23 around the inlet opening 21 and, on the other hand, the vial mount section 44 of the capsule 4 provided with a female thread portion 46, so that the vial 1 can be detachably and fixedly connected to the vial mount section 44 of the capsule 4 by the thread connection. The male and female thread portions 23, 46 are arranged in such a manner that, when the vial 1 is fixedly connected to the capsule 4 by the thread connection, the upper surface of the rubber plug 22 of the vial 2 comes into contact with the radial partition wall 41. The sliding member 3 is disposed in the slide section 43 of the capsule 4 so that the sliding member 3 is slidably movable in the axial direction within the cylindrical bore of the capsule 4. As also shown in Figs. 4 - 6, the sliding member 3 comprises a cannula provided with upper and lower needles 33, 34 extending axially toward the upper container 1 and lower vial 2 respectively, a hub 31 and several (four, in the embodiment shown in Figs. 4 - 6) slide arms 32 extending axially from the periphery of the hub 31. The hub 31 and the slide arms 32 are integrally formed of any suitable synthetic resin as a single unit. The cannula is usually made of stainless steel, preferably SUS 304, or any hard synthetic resin, providing upper and lower needles 33, 34 extending axially up and down toward the container 1 and vial 2, respectively. The hub 31 is usually made of any suitable synthetic resin. If a sharpness or piercing property of the cannula is to be an important factor, the cannula should be made of stainless steel. On the other hand, if a disposable property of the cannula is to be an important factor, the cannula should be made of hard synthetic resin, such as ABS resin or polycarbonate. In this case, the sliding member 3 including the cannula, the hub 31 and the slide arms 32 can be integrally formed as a single unit. When assembling this system, the sliding member 3 is first inserted into the slide section 43 of the capsule 4 so that the slide arms 32 are slidably engaged with the inner bore wall of the capsule 5 to retain the sliding member 3 within the capsule 4. Then, container 1 covered with the auxiliary cover 5 as mentioned above is inserted into the capsule 4 until the annular edge of the cover 5 comes into engagement with the annular rib 45. Thus, the container 1 is retained within the capsule 4 so that the solution container 4 is prevented from unintentionally falling down. In this state, if necessary, the container 1 can also be sold and available in the market as a single product or commodity. Usually, in the hospitals or other health care facilities, the vial 2 containing the medicament therein is connected to the capsule 4, as mentioned above and shown in Figs. 1 - 3, by an operator, such as a doctor or nurse, so that the vial 2 and the capsule 4 are fixed to each other by the thread engagement. Then, the container 1 is pushed down so that the cover 5 moves past the annular rib 45. After the rubber plug 12 of the container 1 comes into contact with the upper needle 33 of the cannula, the sliding member 3 is further moved downward with the container 1 and then the lower needle 34 of the cannula comes into contact with rubber plug 22 of the vial 2 through the central opening 42 of the partition wall 41. Then, according to the present invention, the movement of the sliding member 3 is controlled in such a manner that the lower needle 34 of the cannula first sealingly pierces and is inserted into the rubber plug 22 of the vial 2, so that the cannula communicates with the vial 2, and then the upper needle 33 of the cannula sealingly pierces and is inserted into the rubber plug 12 of the fluid container 1 so that both the fluid container 1 and the vial 2 are communicated to each other through the cannula. In order to ensure such an operation, it is preferable to form the cannula in such a manner that the edge of lower needle 34 is made sharper than that of the upper needle 33. In another embodiment, the rubber plug 12 of the container 1 is made harder than the rubber plug 22 of the vial 2. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, a rubber cap 6 is attached to cover the lower needle 34 of the cannula which would prevent a leak of solution from the container 1 through the cannula, if the upper needle 33 was inserted into the rubber plug 12 of the container 1 to communicate with the container 1, before the lower needle 34 was pierced into the rubber plug 22 of the vial 2. However, in the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, the sliding member 3 is provided with braking means to prevent a leak of solution from the container 1. Such braking means comprises several legs 7 integrally extending from the hub 31 of the sliding member 3 and engaged with the opening portion of the container 1 by projections 8 of the legs 7. Therefore, when the container 1 is pushed down, the sliding member 3 descends with the container 1 until the lower needle 34 of the cannula comes into contact with and pierces the rubber plug 22 of the vial 2 so that the cannula communicates with the vial 2. After the hub 31 of the sliding member 3 comes into contact with the partition wall 41, the container 1 is moved over the projections 8 of the legs 7 and allowed to move downward so as to widen the legs 7, until the upper needle 33 penetrates the rubber plug 12 of the container 1 to communicate with the container 1. Also, as shown in the embodiments shown in Figs. 2 and 3, a stopper means, such as an annular recess or undercut portion 47 is formed on an inner wall of the capsule 4. Therefore, when the sliding member 3 is completely lowered to a predetermined position, in other words, when the sliding member 3 comes into contact with the radial partition wall 42, the slide arms 32 of sliding member 3 come to be engaged with the recess 47 and thus the sliding member 3 is locked. To more firmly lock the sliding member 3, the recess 47 is preferably formed as a sharp edge and the ends of the slide arms 32 are provided with hook portions 35, as shown in Figs. 4 - 6, which can be securely engaged with the recess 47. Thus, once the sliding member 3 is locked, unfavorable movement thereof such as a raise or kick-back due to an elastic force of the rubber cap 6 can effectively be prevented. Thus, the liquid or solution in the container 1 enters the vial 2 and the powdered medicament or freeze-dried medicament is mixed with or dissolved in the solution. After the solution in the container 1 is completely transferred to the vial 2, the vial 2 is removed from the capsule 4. Then, the vial 2 containing the medicament solution is used in the transfusion for a patient. The remaining system including the container 1, the sliding member 3 and the capsule 4 are usually disposed of. In this case, it is preferable that the lower needle 34 does not protrude from the lower end 48 of the sleeve, as shown in Fig. 1, and thus a safe handling of the system can be ensured after the vial 1 is removed. Although in the above-mentioned embodiment, the cannula of the sliding member 3 has a single fluid passage 36, as shown in Figs. 4 - 6, a cannula having two such passages 37, 38 may be used, as shown in Fig. 7. In this case, the solution can be more rapidly transferred from the container 1 to the vial, since one of the passages 37, 38 is used as a liquid way and the other is used as an air/gas way. As mentioned above, according to the above-mentioned embodiment, since both the capsule 4 and the auxiliary cover 5 are made of synthetic resin, the auxiliary cover 5 is a frictional and air-tight fit within the capsule 4, even if the mutual dimensions therebetween have not been very strictly controlled. Therefore, any possible contamination is effectively prevented and, particularly, unfavorable substances such as bacteria are prevented from entering into the slide section 43 of the capsule 4. Also, since the movement of the sliding member 3 is controlled in such a manner that the lower needle 34 of the cannula first pierces and communicates with the vial 2 and then the upper needle 33 of the cannula pierces the rubber plug 12 of the fluid container 1 so that both the fluid container 1 and the vial 2 are communicated to each other through the cannula. Therefore, a safe operation can be attained in a sterile condition with the system having a relatively simple and less expensive construction. Therefore, the fluid delivery system described above can easily be handled even if the operator is not familiar with the solution for transfusion and dry medicament in this field. Also, any possible errors in the delivery of mixing process for providing the patient can effectively be prevented.

Claims: A fluid delivery system comprising a vial (2) to contain a substance for dissolving in a liquid, the vial (2) having an opening (21) and a first pierceable plug member (22) providing a hermetically-sealed closure of the vial opening (21); a container (1) for the liquid, the container (1) having an opening (11) and a second pierceable plug member (12) providing a hermetically-sealed closure of the container opening (11); a capsule (4) having a first open end at which the vial (2) is releasably connected and a second open end at which the container (1) is inserted, and a slide member (3) disposed slidably in the capsule (4), having a double-pointed cannula with lower and upper cannula needles (34,33) axially directed respectively towards the first and second ends of the capsule (4); control means being provided to control the movement of the slide member (3); characterised in that the vial (2) has an axially-fixed connection at the first end of the capsule (4) whereas the container (1) is inserted axially slidably at the second end, such that when the container (1) is pushed it slides into the capsule (4) and pushes the slide member (3) along the capsule, the control means being such that when the container and vial are moved towards one another the lower cannula needle (34) pierces the first plug member (22) of the vial (2) to put the cannula in communication with the vial interior before the upper cannula needle (33) pierces the second plug member (12) of the container (1) to put the vial interior in communication with the container interior. A system according to claim 1 in which the container (1) contains the liquid and the vial (2) contains a powder. A system according to claim 2 in which the liquid is a solution or diluent for transfusion. A system according to claim 2 or claim 3 in which the powder is a medicament or drug. A system according to any one of the preceding claims in which the control means includes an edge of the lower cannula needle (34) being formed sharper than an edge of the upper cannula needle (33). A system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 in which the first and second plug members (12,22) are rubber, and the control means includes the second plug member (22) of the vial (2) being harder than the first plug member (12) of the container (1). A system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 in which the control means includes a braking means (7,8) attached to the slide member (3), the braking means (7,8) being engageable with the container (1) in such a way that, when the container (1) is pushed towards the vial (2) the slide member (3) moves towards the vial (2) with the container (1) for piercing of the first plug (22) of vial (2), continued pushing of the container (1) then overriding the braking means (7,8) for the piercing of the second plug (12) of the container (1). A system according to any one of the preceding claims in which a rubber cap (6) covers the lower cannula needle (34) to prevent fluid leak from the container (1) through the cannula lest the second plug (12) be pierced before the first plug (22). A system according to any one of the preceding claims having a stopper means (47) which, when the slide member (3) has moved towards the vial (2) to a predetermined position in which the lower cannula needle (34) fully pierces the first plug (22) of the vial (2), locks the slide member (3) with respect to the capsule (4). A system according to claim 9 in which the stopper means (47) includes an annular recess around the interior of the capsule (4) into which the slide member (3) locks at said position. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 in which the capsule (4) has a partition wall (41) separating the capsule into a vial mount section (44) at the first end and a slide section (43) at the second end, the slide member (3) being slidably disposed in the slide section (43) of the capsule and the partition wall (41) having a central hole (42) through which the lower cannula needle (34) can pass for piercing the plug member (22) of the vial (2), with the slide member (3) contacting the partition wall (42) when it reaches a position corresponding to full insertion of the lower cannula needle (34) into the first plug (22) of the vial (2). A system according to claim 11 in which the capsule (4) has an inner cylindrical wall having an annular recess (47) into which the slide member (3) makes a locking engagement at said position. A system according to claim 12 in which the vial mount section (44) of the capsule (4) has a female thread (46) and the vial (2) has a male thread (23) to make said connection between the vial (2) and the capsule (4). A system according to claim 13 in which the male and female thread portions (23,46) are arranged such that when the vial (2) is fixedly connected by the threaded connection, the first plug member (22) of the vial (2) contacts the partition wall (41) of the capsule (4). A system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 in which the container (1) has a cylindrical wall portion and a bottom, the system including an auxiliary cover member (5) fitting over the container's cylindrical wall portion and bottom at least partially, the cover member (5) being a slidable air-tight friction fit into the second end of the capsule (4). A system according to claim 15 in which the inside of the capsule wall has an annular rib (45) engaged by an annular edge of the cover member (5) to restrain movement of the container (1) into the capsule (4) until the container (1) is forcibly slid further into the capsule (4) whereupon the cover member (5) can move past the annular rib (45).

Inventors: UCHIDA TADATOSHI, UCHIDA, TADATOSHI
Applicants: NISSHO KK, SUNTORY LTD, NISSHO CORPORATION, SUNTORY LIMITED
Application year: 1994
Main classification: A61J1
IPC codes: A61J1, B65D25, B65D81